When Skyline first begins, I actually had some hope for it. The
very first scene shows the arrival of the alien invasion force in Los Angeles.
It’s at night, and the brightly lit advance guard awakens a group of vapid people
in a high-rise, who all think it’s dawn. Yet when the lead character, Jarrod
(Eric Balfour), stares into the pretty blue lights, he instantly becomes a
zombie-like creature who’s compelled to move towards his attacker--and just when
you think that Skyline will hit the ground running, that it will be a
turbocharged SF thriller from the get go, we abruptly jump back in time, some
fifteen hours earlier, where we first meet the characters.
Apparently, the Strauss Brothers--the sibling directing team behind this effort
who also gave us Aliens Vs. Predators: Requiem--are determined to show us just how vapid and shallow their lead characters truly are before getting on with the good stuff. After fifteen minutes or so of having these cardboard twits spout inane dialogue, during which Jarrod--who’s struggling just to stay afloat in this crazy economy--whines and complains about accepting a lucrative job offer (is this guy a complete idiot, or what?), we then relive the first scene all over again. But at least the movie keeps on going at this point. If only that dopey attempt at establishing character was the only problem here.
Skyline deserves kudos for its imaginative handling of an alien invasion, and
they use some pretty spectacular effects in the process (the effects team also
deserves a big round of applause). Rather than fall back on the standard B-movie
clichés regarding how aliens look and operate, the Brothers Strauss show us a
truly alien-looking alien invasion from the POV of a group of very frightened
people in a high-rise. Yet they still wisely keep the POV narrative broad enough
to still be able to show the military attacking the aliens in some dazzling
battle scenes. The aliens themselves are a mixture of H.R Giger’s Aliens mixed
with creatures from Lovecraft’s worst nightmare.
So far, go good. But the story itself falls short of the high expectations generated by the stunning visuals. The characters have moments of pure stupidity that make you realize they’re nothing more than chess pieces being manipulated by the filmmakers so that they can get to the next big effects scene. And they’re not above using some very silly, over the top, Michael Bay moments to try and create great drama--only to inadvertently create an unintentional comedic moment instead. Skyline is basically all about the pretty visuals, and they’re great to look at. But other than being great eye candy, there’s not much else here to offer to a viewer.
--SF
Main Review Page | Science Fiction |Email Me |Skyline on DVD
